Customer Reviews

Homedics RWS-100 Restore Clean Water System

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I got this unit on sale, and love it. There are some minor drawbacks, though: As one reviewer stated, some carbon particles do float into the water (though only into the pre-filter reservoir in my experience, not into the actual drinking water). Also, this reservoir only holds 4 cups of water, so you have to fill it up in stages; however, if the reservoir were larger, the unit would be larger as well (obviously), and I find it is just compact enough to fit easily into my fridge, under my cabinets, into the sink, etc. My main grip is that the lid does not snap on, so you have to hold it down with your thumb whenever you tilt the pitcher to pour. Overall, though, I think it is terrific.

We have a private well with possible seasonal issues. I had done much research on disinfection equipment for private wells and was considering options that ranged from a "pure" drinking water station to whole house chlorine disinfection. We had settled on the "do nothing" option until I saw this new product. Wow. I can not believe the traditional filter pitcher companies had not come up with this; a UV light in the pitcher to provide disinfection of bacteria. This is a great solution. While not the same removal of bacteria that a microbiological filter can provide, for the cost it is great peace of mind at a very cost effective price.

I have been using this system for almost a year. Sometimes there are a few carbon particles in the water, but it doesn't really bother me. I checked on all kinds of similar water filtration systems, and this is the one I picked. This is the one I really use daily. I had tried a popular brand in the past (pitcher type), but I really didn't think it did the job and I quickly lost interest in using it. Now, I live in an area of California that had a lot of farming at one time and the area definately had a problem with chemical well contamination, due to pesticides (not to mention the water tasted horrible and still does). This system greatly improves the taste of the water and I believe it is doing a good job filtering my water.

Originally, I was going to purchase a self-contained water filtration system at three times the cost as it implied it even filtered swamp water to acceptible drinking levels. However, I researched the products and chose this one instead. It does the job as far as I'm concerned and it sure beats the cost of high priced bottled water!

I bought this unit (3 actually) on sale so that I would stop buying the 24 packs of bottled water. I felt that it is wasteful, bad for the environment and expensive to drink bottled water. My water at home does not taste bad and I've been drinking it for decades, but I do like the comforting thought of having my water purified just in case. For about the cost of 3 cases of water (about 3 weeks supply), I bought this purification system. The filters for the pitchers are not easily found so I stocked up by buying replacement filters @ Amazon as they seem to have the best price. I'd hate to not be able to get filters. Although I've had the reverse happen as I have two packages of PUR filters and no pitchers to use with them as those filters are now obsolete and none of the current PUR filtering pitchers or devices accept these older filters. This is why I bought more than one of these water purification filtering pitcher systems. At the price I paid, I should have bought more, but they are bulky and I didn't want to store any more than I have.

The instructions say to replace the filters about once a month, but there is a warning light in the purification device that will light up when they recommend that you replace the filter. PUR also recommends monthly filter replacement but I suspect this is more for their income cash flow rather than our safety concerns. I plan on replacing my filters every two-three months so that I can reduce my cost of filtered water by 50%. I've used wilderness water filters on truly horrific water (water the color of root beer, cow patties soaking in the still water, live mosquito larva and tons of mud and other particulate matter in the water) and what I do after I'm back home is to sterilize the filter by either boiling the filter core or drying out the filter and microwaving the filter to kill any active microbes. If you are an informed cheapskate like me, you can really reduce your cost/liter of water this way. I haven't sterilized a filter for this system yet as I've only had this pitcher for a few weeks, but when it's time, this is what I'll do.

None of the manufacturers tell us why we need to replace our filters monthly, but if it is to get rid of the build up of live microbes, then sterilizing the filter will do the job. With my wilderness filters, I only replace them when the filter gets clogged up and it is difficult to get the water to pass through the filter.

I'll be the first to admit that I am skeptical about how effective any of these filtering/purification systems are. Why? Because with my wilderness water filters require a lot of pumping pressure to get the water to pass through the filters and these home systems, the filters only require gravity and the water passes through the filter rather quickly and the home filters have relatively low mass/weight compared to the best wilderness filters. But, they probably will do no harm and the carbon element of the filter will certainly improve the taste.

I've had no problems with the lid falling off when pouring water from the pitcher, but I can see this occurring if you are trying to pour out the very last drops of water from the pitcher where the lid is tilted beyond vertical, but my instincts tell me to put my finger on the lid if I go beyond vertical anyway. It's simply common sense. I'll agree that they could have engineered the lid better so that it wouldn't be able to fall off while pouring, but to me, I wouldn't even call it an annoyance. I probably wouldn't even think about it if it hadn't been notated in previous reviews. The system is very well made and well engineered including the electronic UV purification system with it's retractable cord, purify/fill switch, filter replacement warning light, filter body design, etc.

At the original retail price of over 110 bucks... no way I'd buy this system as I'd probably go with a under the sink reverse osmosis system, but at the current discounted prices of about a fourth that, I think they are a very good value and probably one of the best pitcher type models available.

Water is tasty, especially when it's from my own fridge and not a one use water bottle. The process for filling the pitcher/ UV takes about 2 minutes.

I remember reading something that the black carbon dots didn't fall into the water. This is 100% not true. In both my pitcher and my mothers pitcher little black carbon can be found in the water. I still rated this as a 5 as I know the small amount of carbon isn't going to off me.

(Also, I did soak the filter beforehand).

I ordered this hoping that it would do a better job than Brita for removing the chlorine taste. I was very pleased to find that the water had no taste and was really good! The first thing you will notice though is that the lid does not completely close down flush on the top. There is a stopper preventing it from doing so. So therefore, you have to hold the lid on to pour otherwise the lid, filter and top reservoir falls out. One problem I faced in the first week of using it is that it started leaking water between the blue water reservoir and the white base. I like the taste of the water so much though I'm sending it back and ordering another one in hopes that I don't have the same water leaking problem.

We bought this product on sale. and now the regular price is even lower. It is super owesome. comes with UV light . It gives peace of mind that water is 100% pure and bacteria free.

Got strong sunburn on exposed skin after first use. Had lid on like instructions say - got Got burned from uv coming through plastic walls of water filled picture.

I bought this because I dont trust whats in my tap water and this product claims to filter a whole mess of bad things. I only drink bottled water and I thought i might save a little money purifying my own water. The water this thing produces tastes exactly like tap water so I dont even know if it works. the water reservoir that holds the purified water isnt sealed so when I put it in the refrigerator and leave it there over night and pour a glass of water in the morning and it gives my water the flavor of what my fridge smells like. Also I left the water in there for a couple days and it had a strong plastic taste that was the last straw I gagged on it and spit it out. I may consider using this filter to fill my dogs water bowl or to cook with but definitely not drinking water. I'm back to bottled water.

To be honest, besides the promise to kill cysts, I'm not sure why someone would buy this. It's pricier than most water filter systems, it's goofy as it always seem to release carbon particles into the filtered water part which is so ANNOYING! When I don't have carbon particles in my water, the taste is pretty clean and crisp. The whole UV light thing might be a scam, but I wouldn't know... I'm just taking their word that it's doing what they say it is. I hope so because this $100 system might be going in the closet in favor of other systems like the Zero water filter which I liked, but found it annoying for several reasons.